Interest in organic semiconducting materials driven by the potential application of organic light emitting devices (OLEDs) for full color flat panel displays has led to significant progress in polymer and small molecular weight organic semiconductors. Furthermore, the recent demonstration of lasing action in optically pumped films of small molecular weight organic semiconductors, and the observation of optical gain in conjugated polymers have presented the possibility for realizing electrically-pumped laser devices based on these materials. Unique electronic and optical properties of organic semiconductors make such laser sources a potential alternative to inorganic semiconductor lasers.
Although progress has been made in the field of organic semiconductor lasers (OSLs) based on materials such as tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq.sub.3) doped with DCM laser dye for red laser emission (for example, as described in U.S. Ser. No. 05/859,468, filed May 19, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,111,902 which is incorporated herein by reference), there is still a need for materials for the more efficient and reliable laser emission of colors other than red. For example, the prior art does not offer reliable laser diodes operating in the blue, green and yellow spectral ranges.